This $649,999 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program supports Farmsense, Inc., a self-certified small disadvantaged business, in developing novel sensor technologies for precise insect pest monitoring and surveillance in agricultural settings. The project aims to create a system inspired by how bats detect and discriminate between different insects, allowing for tracking of insect pests down to the...
This Project Grant award of $800,000.00 from the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) to Texas A&M AgriLife Research aims to advance tools for quantifying soft tick contact with domestic and wild swine in regions with active African swine fever virus (ASFV) transmission in Uganda as well as in the U.S. The two specific objectives are to determine the vertebrate host community utilized by ASFV-competent argasid ticks and quantify serological evidence of swine exposure...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $309,216 Project Grant to the University of Kansas Center for Research Inc. under the Biological Sciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.074) to support the "COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DIGITIZATION TCN: EXTENDING ANTHOPHILA RESEARCH THROUGH IMAGE AND TRAIT DIGITIZATION (BIG-BEE)" project. The three-year project aims to advance biological sciences research through the digitization of images and trait data of bee specimens housed in natural...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) has awarded a $179,544 project grant to the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Inc. in Millbrook, NY. The funding will support research to evaluate the effects of spongy moth defoliation on blacklegged ticks, the primary vectors of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses in the United States. The project aims to investigate how changes in ground-level temperature and humidity caused by spongy moth outbreaks may...
Farmsense, Inc. received a $275,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program. The award supports the development of an automated, digital classification and counting system for mosquitoes to enable more effective vector control. The project aims to create an end-to-end digital platform for mosquito surveillance that can support the work of vector control districts. The platform will leverage real-time insect...
This Project Grant award of $919,730.00 from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) Federal Grant Program is funding research to analyze phylogenetic and ecological patterns in the diversity of aphids, one of the most invasive animal species and important agricultural pests. The key objectives are to: (i) estimate phylogenetic relationships among aphid lineages, (ii) use comparative phylogenetic analyses to understand the drivers of biological invasion in aphids, and...
This $993,899 federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) supports research into the biomechanical and fluid-mechanical mechanisms that insects use to move their antennae. The project, led by Clemson University, investigates the structure, function, and biomechanics of insect antennae to provide insights into how they enable insects to navigate and sense their environment. The research aims to develop strategies for designing...
This Project Grant award, titled "CAREER: ENHANCING HONEY BEE HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH VIBROACOUSTIC AND ELECTRIC FIELD DIAGNOSTICS," is funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083). The $325,000 award supports a 5-year research, education, and outreach project at North Dakota State University focused on developing novel diagnostic methodologies that integrate vibroacoustic and electric field measurements to monitor the health...
This federal Project Grant award of $600,000 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program aims to develop an interactive computer-based platform that can examine, analyze, and interpret factors influencing cattle fever ticks in the United States. The objective is to create a tool to identify evolving risks and implement effective prevention and mitigation strategies against cattle fever tick infestations, which pose a...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $471,214 Project Grant under the Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) program to the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Inc. The grant supports long-term research on the dynamics between resource pulses, rodents, ticks, and Lyme disease risk in oak forests. The key products and services to be delivered include: Collecting new data on tick numbers and survival across different life stages, integrating this into models to forecast Lyme disease risk....
This $563,886 National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences (CFDA 47.074) project grant, awarded to Kansas State University in collaboration with USDA Agricultural Research Service and Harvey Mudd College, will develop and optimize a user-friendly digital AC-DC electropenetrograph to enable real-time recording and analysis of tick feeding behaviors. The project aims to overcome limitations of existing analog electropenetrograph technology and spur new research on blood-feeding arthropods like ticks, which transmit medically and veterinarily important pathogens exacerbated by climate change. The instrument and associated software will be designed, prototyped, and iteratively evaluated over a 2-year period, with involvement from 12-20 undergraduate students and a postdoctoral researcher. Successful completion will deliver a commercializable digital electropenetrograph and "arthropod species flexible" software to accelerate research on blood-feeding arthropod behaviors and their impacts on animal and plant agriculture.